Chapter 1

Freezing rain mixed with the foul stench of zombie blood dripped down onto my broken body.

My legs had long gone numb, the muscles chewed away by zombies until only bone was left.

The gaping wound in my abdomen had been driven straight through by a rusted steel rod; the very one my most trusted stepsister, Emily Lane, had thrust into me with all her strength.

The pain crashed over me like a tide, but worse than the physical torment was the despair and hatred tearing apart my heart.

I lay in the muddy, filthy ruins and watched Emily and her mother drive off without a second glance. My vision started to blur.

Before she left, Emily turned back and gave me a sweet, poisonous smile. Her voice was soft, but every word was a dagger.

"Charlotte, why don't you stay here and feed the zombies?" she said. "From now on, your safe house, your supplies, your car, and everything your father left behind are all mine."

My stepmother, Margaret Lane, shot me a disgusted look and said in a cold, cutting voice, "If you hadn't been so determined to hold onto your spot as the Summers family's heiress, we wouldn't have had to go this far.

"Charlotte, you were just a rock in the road. You should have died a long time ago."

They took the antibiotics I had risked my life to grab from the zombies. They took the last half bottle of water I had. They even rummaged through my pockets and took the last small piece of hard bread.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, they abandoned me in the most zombie-infested area.

I watched them come. One by one. Hideous faces, bodies rotting, dragging themselves toward me. The stench hit me in the face, and their roars were deafening.

Regret, rage, bitterness, despair. A thousand emotions exploded in my chest.

I hated myself for being so blind. For giving my whole heart to people I called family, only to be thrown into hell by them.

I hated myself for being weak and soft. For giving in again and again, only to be met with more scheming and betrayal.

I hated myself for fighting so hard for five years in this apocalypse. For surviving hunger, cold, zombies, and mutated beasts, only to die at the hands of the people closest to me.

If fate gave me a second chance, I wouldn't be soft for one second.

I would never trust anyone again.

I would never let those devils in human skin hurt me again.

I would hoard every supply in the world, gain power no one could match, protect my own life, and make everyone who betrayed me, hurt me, or used me pay. Let them burn in hell forever.

My hatred surged through me. And then, under the rotting jaws of the zombies, I lost consciousness completely.

*****

My eyes snapped open. I was gasping for air. My heart pounded, and cold sweat soaked my back in an instant.

But there were no ruins, no mud, no bloody rain, no hideous zombies. Instead, I saw a pink bedroom that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

The bed was soft and warm. Sunlight streamed through white curtains. The air smelled faintly of gardenias. On the nightstand sat a new phone, a nice cup, and an electronic calendar showing the date.

I lifted my head stiffly and looked at the numbers on the calendar.

It was July 5, 2099. Thirty days before the red rain that would sweep the world and destroy everything.

I had gone back.

I had gone back to a month before the apocalypse, before any of the tragedy had happened.

I hadn't been bitten by zombies. Emily hadn't stabbed me through the stomach. I hadn't lost all my supplies. My parents had died unexpectedly, but their huge inheritance was untouched. My houses, my car, my savings, my funds, and my stocks were still mine.

Margaret and Emily hadn't yet bled me dry. They hadn't had the chance to kill me.

An overwhelming rush of joy mixed with freezing hatred flooded my entire body, and I couldn't stop shaking.

I was really back. Back to before everything began.